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The Sound of Drums
The episode continues immediately after the events of Utopia where the Doctor, Martha, and Jack were trapped by the Futurekind. The Doctor fixes Jack's vortex manipulator to get them to 21st century Earth; the trip, however, is not comfortable, with the Doctor complaining that time travel without a capsule is "a killer". He also explains that when he used his sonic screwdriver on the TARDIS console as the Master used it (in the previous episode), he fused the coordinates so that it would only go to 21st century Cardiff, so they won't have missed him. When they arrive they discover "Vote Saxon" posters everywhere. Martha explains to the Doctor that Harold Saxon is a politician on planet Earth and that they must have just missed the General Election. Meanwhile, Saxon is on the news with his wife Lucy, having just come from Buckingham Palace after winning the election and being confirmed as Great Britain's new Prime Minister. Martha tells the Doctor that she recognised the voice inside the TARDIS: it was that of Harold Saxon. The Doctor realises with horror that not only is the Master now Prime Minister, but he is married. The Master heads to his first Cabinet meeting later that day. He meets Tish Jones (who had worked for Richard Lazarus two days previously and now works at 10 Downing Street). After speaking to Tish, he walks into the cabinet room. After the Master insults the Cabinet (accusing them of deserting their political parties and jumping on his bandwagon after seeing the vote swinging his way), he dons a facial gas mask. After explaining why he is wearing the gas mask to MP Albert Dumfries (a task made harder by the fact that the mask muffles his voice), the speakers of the phones on the Cabinet desk pop up and spray a toxic gas that kills all of the Cabinet members. Martha returns home with Jack and the Doctor and they quickly set up a computer search about "Harold Saxon". At Downing Street, Lucy Saxon is speaking to Tish when a woman named Vivien Rook arrives from the Sunday Mirror saying she is here to interview Lucy about being the Prime Minister's wife and asks Tish to leave. After Tish leaves, Rook confronts Lucy about her husband's fictitious life history: he only appeared shortly after the Sycorax invasion and the subsequent downfall of Harriet Jones, and he made his past life up. Lucy refuses to believe this, and says that she made her choice for better or worse, revealing the Master's presence in the room. The Master admits that Harold Saxon doesn't exist as he produces four robotic balls the size of footballs. He tells one to kill Vivien as he and Lucy leave. Lucy angrily remarks that Harry told her that "Archangel" was 100 percent; the Master demurs, admitting it was more like 98-99 percent. Lucy then fearfully remarks other people may be asking questions about them and that their time is running out. The Master embraces his wife and promises her that tomorrow, the world will end. Meanwhile, at Martha's flat, the TARDIS crew have researched the Master's "life history" when a Saxon Broadcast comes on the TV. In the broadcast, the Master mentions several previous alien attacks, namely the destruction of Big Ben, the Sycorax invasion, the Army of Ghosts and metal men, and the Christmas Star that came to kill. He then says he has been contacted by a new species, the Toclafane, and then claims, "We will take our place in the universe. Every man, woman, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. I don't know--every medical student?" At this the Doctor looks behind the television and finds a bomb; he, Martha and Jack run out on to the street just in time to see the flat explode before getting into a car and phoning Martha's mum. Francine asks her to come to her house, claiming she has plans of getting back together with Clive. Francine hands the phone to Clive. He holds his breath for a moment and tells Martha to run. However, Miss Dexter, a government official loyal to the Master, is listening to the conversation and tells the police to arrest the entire Jones family. Martha phones Tish at Downing Street, just as Tish is dragged away by guards. Martha, the Doctor, and Jack arrive at Francine's house but are forced to make a three point turn and escape as the police open fire on them. As the three of them abandon the car, Martha phones Leo, who luckily is in Brighton. As Martha warns her brother to hide, the Master interrupts the phone call. The Doctor takes the phone and talks to his old enemy: the Master is horrified to learn that Gallifrey is lost, and mercilessly berates the Doctor when he learns how the Time War ended and the Doctor's part in it. The Master says that the Time Lords resurrected him as the perfect warrior to fight in the War, but he ran away in fear, explaining that he used a Chameleon Arch to turn himself into a human (as the Doctor did in Human Nature) and fled to the end of the universe so he couldn't be found. He informs the Doctor that he, Martha, and Jack have now been deemed as armed and extremely dangerous terrorists and that Jack's friends have been sent on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas. Whilst the Doctor stands with his back against a shop window the television inside shows BBC News, which shows the faces of the Master's Cabinet Ministers and then that of the Doctor, Jack and Martha - implying that they have been framed for the murder of the Cabinet. Realising that the Master has control of everything and they have no way to stop him, the trio run. That evening, one of the Toclafane appears before the Master asking if "the machine" is ready. The Master informs it that it will reach a critical mass at 8:02 AM, two minutes after the "first contact." The Toclafane reminds him of the darkness that is coming which the Toclafane must run from, but the Master merely reminds the creature of their deadline. As the TARDIS crew hide in an abandoned warehouse, the Doctor gives Martha and Jack some insight on the Master's origins. After denying Martha's suggestion that he and the Master were brothers, he explains that at the age of eight, initiates were taken by the Time Lords to look into the time vortex. Some were inspired; some ran away; and some were driven mad. While the Doctor ran and has never stopped running, he believes the Master went mad. Jack then receives a posthumous message from Vivien Rook to Torchwood Three about the Archangel Network. The Doctor is initially disgusted about Jack's involvement with Torchwood after everything Torchwood did, but Jack insists that not only was the old Torchwood regime destroyed at Canary Wharf, but that under his command Torchwood no longer perceives the Doctor as a threat. The Doctor discovers that the Master has been using the Archangel Network of communication satellites to hypnotise people to vote for him. This also kept the Doctor from detecting him earlier - Time Lords have an ability to sense when another one of their own is around, as well as recognise another Time Lord after they have regenerated. The Doctor produces three keys equipped with perception filters allowing himself, Martha, and Jack to be seen, but not detected, if they put them on. The United States President, Arthur Colman Winters, arrives in Air Force One in London. He tells the Master that UNIT has control over the operation, citing a United Nations protocol. Winters insists on moving first contact to the neutral ground of the UNIT aircraft carrier Valiant and conducting the meeting with the Toclafane himself. The Master brings along Francine, Tish and Clive, and the Doctor and friends follow using Jack's vortex manipulator. On board, they find the TARDIS, its cloister bell ringing, and the interior glowing an ominous red. It has been changed by the Master into a paradox machine, set to go off at 8:02 AM, two minutes after first contact. The trio head for the room in which the first contact is being held. The Doctor has a plan: if he manages to put the TARDIS key around the Master's neck, then everyone will see the Master for who he truly is. When the first contact begins, the Toclafane complain that the President is not their "Master". The Master reveals himself to the entire world and tells the Toclafane to kill the President; Winters is promptly incinerated on sight. The Doctor is captured by the guards - the Master had ignored the perception filter and knew he and the others were there all along - before (temporarily) killing Jack with his laser screwdriver , equipped with LazLab's Genetic Manipulation technology. With access to DNA from the Doctor's hand (stolen during the events of Utopia), it allows the Master to artificially (and visibly) age the Doctor by 100 years adapted from Richard Lazarus's de-ageing technology. The Doctor starts to swing and sway, at 35 mph, whist aging. Screaming in pain, he stops swinging and swaying to find himself a wrinkled old man. Martha conforts him. The Master brings in the Jones family to witness this attack. With the paradox machine ready, the Master tells the people of Earth to witness the end of the world. The paradox machine activates, creating a massive rift above the Valiant from which six billion Toclafane descend as the Master and Lucy dance to the Rogue Traders' "Voodoo Child". He orders them to kill one tenth of the earth's population. When asked, he refuses to reveal the true identity of the Toclafane, saying it would break the Doctor's hearts. Whilst the Master is distracted, Martha glances at the Doctor, Jack and her family. The Doctor had given her a message, she teleports to Earth using the manipulator (given to her by Jack as he came back to life again), promising to return as she watches the Toclafane descend and start laying waste to Earth. The Master and his wife look down on the planet, calling it his "new dominion", with the aged Doctor between them, forced to confront his failure to stop the Master. Which the Master thought it good.